March 7, 2010, 11:11 pm
I answered a question three days ago, and I got a thumbs down. The person asking the question chose the best answer and edited the original question stating that kids shouldn't be able to make their own decisions, like when it comes to legal contracts.
So let me get this straight... if a child shouldn't be allowed to choose the parent they want to stay with when their parents get divorced, and can't choose to spend time with both or not? The court decides? I've seen suicide cases on the news and heard numerous stories from my parents(worked in law enforcement) about child suicide because of cases like this.
My had to go to a house because the neighbors called about screaming. It turned out the father had beat up his daughter because she said in the court that she wanted to go with her mother during the divorce and not her dad. He had several accounts of being abusive but somehow he got her. Good lawyers perhaps? So he beat her up for wanting to go with her mother and not him. He lied about beating her up and said she fell on the ground from the couch. On carpet...(yes, people are dumb when they tell lies) She suffered head trauma, broken arms, and broken legs. My dad got stuck with taking her pictures. My dad said he couldn't describe how she looked in the hospital, like a zombie you see in the movies. The dad went to jail for life, and the girl died once they took her off life support.
Now tell me, why are children "too young" to make their own decisions? That's a load of BS! Also, the question I answered was about sex ed. Think about what you do when you hide your child behind you all their life, and then you die. Not introducing them into sex ed is overprotective. My parents let me take sex ed, and kids say they're overprotected.
Obviously the new generation of "parents" think shielding their children will help them. That's what happens when a parent is young and has a kid. They think they know everything, and ruin their kids life because of their bad parenting.
So, thoughts and opinions please. Should children be allowed to make their own decisions? If not, why? Don't tell me their too young or not mature enough either, because that story my dad told me obviously shows that parts of the human brain subconsciously tell a person what they should do.
Also, no "Oh crud, I'm not reading that." or "That story ain't true." My dad showed me the old news paper.
By making their own decisions, I only mean during certain situations.
Ex.)Say a 10 year old wants to start dating. That's the parents' decision, not the childs. That's a little obvious, because there are cases when children that young lose their virginity because they went to the movies without their parents. It's sad but true. Like I said, only in certain situations, but should they in those certain situations?
Also, I don't think letting children make certain decisions is foolish, as the question asker said. 70% of couples here in the US are divorced, and saying kids can't make decisions is like smacking yourself in the face. If you divorce, saying your child can't make a decision is like telling yourself you can't.